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Arsenic And Old Lace [DVD] [1944]
 
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Arsenic And Old Lace [DVD] [1944]

DVD ~ Cary Grant
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
RRP: £13.99
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Product details

  • Actors: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton
  • Directors: Frank Capra
  • Writers: Joseph Kesselring, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein
  • Producers: Frank Capra, Jack L. Warner
  • Format: Black & White, Dubbed, Full Screen, PAL
  • Language English, German
  • Subtitles: English, French, Italian, Danish, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Romanian, Bulgarian
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Warner Home Video
  • DVD Release Date: 7 May 2001
  • Run Time: 113 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000056BB9
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,486 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    Popular in this category:

    #34 in  DVD > Classics > Comedy

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

In 1941, when Frank Capra filmed Arsenic and Old Lace, he was in the midst of his string of social-concern pictures. So this uncharacteristic property must have seemed like a vacation; it's a straight farce, played at full tilt and closely adapted from the Broadway play. Almost all of the action takes place on a single set: the old home of the Brewster sisters (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair), those dear, dotty old ladies who mix up a very special elderberry wine. Very special. As their nephew Mortimer (Cary Grant) discovers on the eve of his wedding, the two ladies have been spiking the wine with poison and sending lonely gentleman callers off to the great beyond. More specifically, they've been burying them in the cellar with the help of nutty Uncle Teddy, who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt (and thus digging the Panama Canal down in the basement). The ominous happenings are made more sinister with the arrival of another menacing relative (RaymondMassey) and his quack doctor (Peter Lorre), who look and act like refugees from a horror movie. Played completely over the top, this movie offers up lots of bracing slapstick, with Grant run to near exhaustion by the galloping insanity of his family. Although Capra shot the film in 1941, prior to his making military films during World War II, the film was not released until 1944; the contract stipulated that the movie not come out before the play ended its enormously successful run. --Robert Horton


Video Description

DVD Special Features:

Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Trailer
Languages in Mono: English, French, Italian
Subtitles: English, French, Italian, Dutch, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Romanian, Bulgarian, English for the hearing impaired, Italian for the hearing impaired.

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Customer Reviews

25 Reviews
5 star:
 (17)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (25 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Utterly delicious!, 19 Oct 2003
By Andy Millward (Broxbourne, Herts, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)      
You would have to be suicidal or made of granite not to warm to Frank Capra's finest films. Everybody loves It's a Wonderful Life for its life-affirming humanity, but Arsenic and Old Lace is just a good old-fashioned farce which by 1944 standards must have seemed inky black in its treatment of death. The years have been kind to this film - it has matured beautifully and simply leaves a big wide smile on your face.

However, there is plenty more on offer: Cary Grant may be gloriously over the top, but the splendidly observed supporting performances can be treasured. In particular, Josephine Hull and Jean Adair at the two aunts, Raymond Massey as the homicidal brother and Peter Lorre as his fussy and fragile plastic surgeon.

This is simple escapist entertainment relying on age-old virtues of good script, timing, acting ability and top notch direction - who needs computer-generated special effects anyway!

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35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Good but better in original black and white, 21 Oct 2001
By Mr. N. Carnegie (Kirkcaldy, Scotland, UK.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This is a classic farce masterfully directed by Frank Capra and starring Cary Grant as a lifelong batchelor trying to get married but having trouble with his literally insane family. That's about all you need to know to want to buy this movie BUT the big dissapointment with this movie is that it is in colour when it was shot in black and white. Why do they do this? Most people want to see a movie as the director meant it to be seen and before his death Frank Capra himself expressed his displeasure at the adding of colour to his classic movies and it is a classic. The choice is yours...
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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars ****Perfect viewing on a cold and wet winters afternoon****, 15 Oct 2002
By Mr. N. Carnegie (Kirkcaldy, Scotland, UK.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This is a classic farce masterfully directed by Frank Capra and starring Cary Grant as a lifelong batchelor trying to get married but having trouble with his literally insane family. If you like old movies, love old Cary Grant movies and enjoy nothing better than watching them on a cold, wet winters evening or afternoon, you'll love this. If you don't like Cary Grant you wont like this. If your looking for It's a Wonderful Life, you wont find it here but you will find an old fashioned farce that looks like it was adapted from the stage (and was adapted from the stage). But it's great fun and that's about all you need to know to about this movie BUT please don't buy the colour print of this movie. Why do they add colour to a movie that originally shot in black and white? Surely most people want to see the original versions of their favorite movies on DVD and it doesn't need colour to enhance it. It's fine as it is in good old fashioned black and white... it's a good old fashioned classic that'll make you reminisce about how "they don't make films like that anymore"...Enjoy!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars They don't make 'em like this any more!
I first saw Arsenic and Old Lace on stage in a very small local theatre in upstate New York whilst on holiday. Read more
Published 26 days ago by M. Tendler

4.0 out of 5 stars Evergreen
A sworn bachelor has just converted to marriage and is about to leave for his honeymoon when he finds out good reasons to fear that total madness runs in his family... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Silvia Masotti

5.0 out of 5 stars very good film excellent for all the family
the film for the year it was made was rather weird,allthough not like toda
ys standard more a whimsical tale delightfuly accomplished by its plot
Published 5 months ago by Nicholas Simpson

2.0 out of 5 stars An unusual black comedy starring Cary Grant
I am not a big fan of black comedies and it was difficult for me to imagine Cary Grant and director Frank Capra would team up to produce this movie. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Rama Rao

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best comedies ever made
From Frank Capra, the director of Mr Smith goes to Washington, this film is really one of the best comedies ever made. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Cinephile Man

2.0 out of 5 stars A try-hard film
The film only really takes off with the entrance of Raymond Massey as the brother. He makes the film watchable and is VERY funny. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Alex da Silva

3.0 out of 5 stars Screwball fun
Entertaining, but also contrived and overdone. Cary Grant's manic zeal is ultimately tiresome. NB Screwball comedies of the 40s are an acquired taste.
Published 19 months ago by Dominic Swayne

4.0 out of 5 stars A funny premise but a flawed execution (pun intended)
Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) has a problem. He's a newspaper critic known for his complaints about marriage, who just got married. Read more
Published on 12 Aug 2007 by C. O. DeRiemer

5.0 out of 5 stars Its Capra..but not as i know it !
I bought this film on the strength of Capra's back catalogue of great titles such as It's a Wonderful Life, It Happened One Night and Mr Smith Goes to Washington. Read more
Published on 27 April 2007 by T. Williams

5.0 out of 5 stars Feather In His Capra
This must rank up there as one of the funniest movies ever made; certianly one of Grant's best; it slick black humour and slapstick comedy is the driving force behind its appeal;... Read more
Published on 1 Oct 2006 by Gavieboy

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